Class Spread

[knottyb0y]

Hey,

This is obviously a silly question, but I wanted to get a feel for the server. I have been enthralled with the idea of a classic server for so long, tonight will likely be my first night on the project 1999 server. Reading the boards for the past few days has me very excited for a chance at the everquest i know and love.

Of course I'm sitting here unsure of my class selection, I'm interested in grouping, exploration, eventually becoming part of a guild and hopefully rading. With that said I played Tallon Zek a long time ago as a warrior and loved every step, unsure if I want different I'm sitting here stuck between the prospect of a bard (see the world i couldn't see as a troll warrior), a cleric (loved by all groups), or a warrior (cause tanking is really fun when it comes down to it).

I guess my question is what kind of population do we have here, are we overflowing with warriors/bard/clerics or any other classes? What is the feel for guilds and their composition (obviously things will change over the next couple months as I level/explore and get to know the server). Any input on this would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Knottyb0y
Gagresh * Tallon Zek * Project 1999 * ?

[Lill-Leif]

There is always a need for tanks, atleast in the groups Ive been in.

[corradojeff]

Welcome.

As for Class selection, the biggest thing that most will tell you is to pick a class you love playing. That will make the level grind easier to swallow.

Bards are a great class to play. They are arguably the most difficult class to play very well. Because of this they are a little rare and at high levels that may make it easier to get in to a full guild because they may not have a lot of bards.

Clerics are always welcome in groups and you can't ever really have to many [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. It may be hard to get in to a hardcore raiding guild because they usually already have their top clerics in place and the class full. That doesn't mean you won't find a guild that you will have fun in. Clerics can get a little boring to play at higher levels especially in classic because you just sit/stand/complete heal/sit rinse and repeat but it does get more exciting after Kunark release.

Warriors...well you know the drill here smashy smashy but in classic they could not keep agro very well so you may not be the most desirable tank. There does seem to be a lack of tanks on the server though so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a group.

There are also the XP penalties to consider. there is a race and class XP penalty/bonus system in classic. EX: As a warrior you have bonus XP but most of the classes that can be warrior have a penalty. See below:

By Race:
Troll -20%
Iksar -20%
Ogre -15%
Barbarian -5%
Halfling +5%

By Class:
Paladin / Shadowknight / Ranger / Bard -40%
Monk -20%
Wizard / Magician / Enchanter / Necromancer -10%
Rogue +9%
Warrior +10%


But seriously just play something yo9u like to play XP penalty or not. It will make things a lot more fun.

[Messianic]

Originally Posted by corradojeff [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Welcome.

As for Class selection, the biggest thing that most will tell you is to pick a class you love playing. That will make the level grind easier to swallow.

Bards are a great class to play. They are arguably the most difficult class to play very well. Because of this they are a little rare and at high levels that may make it easier to get in to a full guild because they may not have a lot of bards.

Clerics are always welcome in groups and you can't ever really have to many [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. It may be hard to get in to a hardcore raiding guild because they usually already have their top clerics in place and the class full. That doesn't mean you won't find a guild that you will have fun in. Clerics can get a little boring to play at higher levels especially in classic because you just sit/stand/complete heal/sit rinse and repeat but it does get more exciting after Kunark release.

Warriors...well you know the drill here smashy smashy but in classic they could not keep agro very well so you may not be the most desirable tank. There does seem to be a lack of tanks on the server though so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a group.

There are also the XP penalties to consider. there is a race and class XP penalty/bonus system in classic. EX: As a warrior you have bonus XP but most of the classes that can be warrior have a penalty. See below:

By Race:
Troll -20%
Iksar -20%
Ogre -15%
Barbarian -5%
Halfling +5%

By Class:
Paladin / Shadowknight / Ranger / Bard -40%
Monk -20%
Wizard / Magician / Enchanter / Necromancer -10%
Rogue +9%
Warrior +10%


But seriously just play something yo9u like to play XP penalty or not. It will make things a lot more fun.

This would make a decent canned response for every day when someone posts a "what class should I play" question =)

Although I am curious about the active server pop which plays each race/class...

[Overcast]

Originally Posted by Messianic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Although I am curious about the active server pop which plays each race/class...

/who all 40 50 Warrior
/who all 40 50 Shadow
/who all 40 50 Cleric

etc.. (Mix that up if you like too /who all 25 35 class - etc) - anything under 25 would be 'questionable' if they even have an intent on sticking with it. It won't show totally /anon people that way - but I just have to 'suspect' that the number of /anon people is probably the same across the classes percentage wise. Although - you may actually find 'buffing' classes tend to run /anon more to not get pestered.

Should give you a good idea. Overall - doing that (can hotkey that of course) - I've found higher numbers of Necros, Druids, Mages, Clerics.

Shaman, Enchanter seem to fall in the middle - depends.. sometimes the numbers seem low.

All of the tanks seem on the lower end, along with Bards, Rangers, Rogues, and Monks.

Just my general observation. But keep in mind - Kunark could swing populations vastly different with newer gear, particularly Melee gear and Iksar's being out. I suspect the monk population will take a jump too. But from what I've observed, even if the number of tanks doubled, you could still easily find a group.

[Cogwell]

Volume and demand can be very different, though, so doing /who all might be misleading.

I find using "/who all lfg [class] [level range]" was effective in showing you what kind of demand there was for any class. The lower the number that popped up, the better the chance at finding groups with that class.

This is not exacting, of course, but will give you a decent idea if you do it multiple times over a couple nights.

[Messianic]

Originally Posted by Overcast [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

/who all 40 50 Warrior
/who all 40 50 Shadow
/who all 40 50 Cleric

I wouldn't consider this accurate, since certain classes (Druid, Wizard, Cleric) are more likely to be /anon or /role.

[Overcast]

Originally Posted by Messianic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I wouldn't consider this accurate, since certain classes (Druid, Wizard, Cleric) are more likely to be /anon or /role.

Yeah, the /who all isn't really going to be 'accurate' - but it can give you a 'general' idea. Keeping in mind that buffing/porting classes may tend to be /anon more.

But.. if they are just /role - they will still show up on /who all [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Although /role won't seem to show unless you are doing /who all 40 50 druid (for instance) - /who druid - in just the zone probably won't work, but I didn't try it.

I was kinda bad - so is my wife, for trying to lean on the more 'rare' classes. I mean, it's never fun to be the 14th Druid in a guild of 20 people, lol. But - guild populations shift, you may be in a guild with zero druids... err, ok maybe only 2, lol. Then Kunark/Velious will shift populations around. Some may just be leveling up mages/necros/druids to farm up gear for tank twinks, many (my RL friend) are waiting in Iksar to come out and are playing classes Iksar can *not* be to avoid repetition.

[Arclanz]

As a 22 chanter who has played for the last six weeks or so, I will say I have seen plenty of tanks to group with but only rarely saw a cleric.

other than that, i rarely see wizards.

lots of enchanters, necros, and druids, ogre/troll tanks, shamans

warriors can't hold aggro for shit until they get proc weapons (not their fault; it's game mechanics) but of course have better survivability and dps than their paladin/sk. (they have dual wield and higher offense and attack skills, defense, etc.)

edited to give more credit to warriors [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Dantes]

Clerics seem rare in mid levels, lately. The last few groups I've been in had a druid or shaman healer.

If you play a Warrior you will need funds for decent proc weapons. Warriors can hold aggro, it's all about the gear. It's just about impossible to taunt anything that cons yellow or red, so you need Obsidian Shards or Gnoll Hide Lariats to proc + a buttload of DEX gear if you want to proc often. It's hard to start out with a warrior as your main because you gotta come up with all of that plat for gear somehow. Also, after they added the hybrid exp penalty back in, there's been an influx of new warriors. Usually I'm either the only Warrior in my range LFG or there's 1 more, last night there were 4 of us.